I Would Do Anything For Love
by Blackheart Ravensoul
Summary: Maxwell is free, now it's Charlie's turn. But after all that the tragedy that befell them does this couple still have a chance? Love changes people and not always for the better.
Chapter 1

He was free, at last he was free. After decades trapped on that throne of nightmares, he was free. The poor foolish man took pity on him, now he had taken his place. With his freedom regained Maxwell could look for a way out, a way back to the real world, something he could only dream about while trapped, and he intended to do so, eventually. There were things he needed to take care of first.

Maxwell was by no means strong when it came to physical strength. He was rather frail and survival was a physically demanding task and for him it could be difficult to accomplish but he didn't wish to die, so there was really only one choice left. He created this world, he knew everything about it, if that wasn't and advantage, then what was? Intellect and magical skills were more than enough to compensate for lack of physical strength. Though magic was initially what got him stuck in this world, it didn't discourage the man from using it. Everything is fare in love and survival.

It was summer in the world; the sun scorched the ground with unbearable heat. He needed to find some shade and luckily there were some trees around. Moving after such a long time spent sitting on the throne of shadows was demanding for his body. Just walking over to the shade was draining. This limited his options- he will make his move when the sun was setting. However this left him with little time to prepare for the dark. For when the dark set in a pitch black darkness would fall on the world and if there was no light around a monster would appear. That monster was once a dear friend to Maxwell, a human woman named Charlie.

When he got teleported to the world so did Charlie. While Maxwell remained human ,imprisoned on the throne by the shadow people, Charlie was not so lucky. She was transformed into some kind of invisible monster that could only exist in pitch black darkness. Maxwell was aware of things that went on in the world even if he couldn't see them, he could feel them through the shadows. He felt her presence in the shadows surrounding the throne. Did she hate him, he wondered at times. He couldn't tell, but she probably did.

The Charlie he knew was a kind person. The magic shows scared her and she only took part because she believed it all to be tricks and not real black magic. On the contrary, the creature of the dark was nothing like the kind, sweet girl he knew. It killed people, anyone who found themselves in the dark and failed to light a fire in time would wound up dead. Was Charlie even in there? Was there any trace of humanity left in that monster? He wasn't sure.

The sun turned west, the heat was down. It was time to move. There was not much time to set up a camp. He looked at the black book resting on his lap, the codex, it was what got him into this mess but he could not afford not using it. Flipping the pages he found the spell and summoned two shadow copies of himself. He dared not to summon any more. He got too bold with his spells, he lost control and it got him stuck in this place. This time he would be wiser. The shadows followed him as he went off to search for a good spot to settle in. He ordered the shadows to gather as much resources as possible while on the move. The sun had almost completely set by the time he found a good spot and lit a fire. Just barely in time. It took him while to get it lit, the man had no experience in this, all he knew was what he learned from observing Wilson.

The night was quite cold despite it being summer. The magician sat by the fire with his knees pulled to his chest, he dared not sleep, if the fire went out while it was still dark he would be done for. Summer nights were short but it was still dangerous. Time passed but there was no way to tell if it was minutes or hours, Maxwell was beginning to doze off but something sent a cold shiver down his spine. It stirred him completely awake. The fire had gone down quite a bit, the circle of light had become much smaller and he was almost out it's reach. He could feel something watching him from the dark.

"Charlie?" he called out

Of course the darkness did not answer. But he still sensed her presence, watching, waiting for the fire to go out. It made him feel sad. Did she really want to hurt him? She didn't have a choice, did she. But he couldn't blame her if she did want to. It was all his fault anyway.

He would wonder how she ended up this way, when the two of them got dragged into this world they both had physical bodies, and even now he was a human being with a physical form, not a spirit with no body. But Charlie had no physical form, just a pitch black darkness with no end in sight. What happened to her body? If only he knew that, he might be able to set her free. If he knew how her spirit got separated from her body he might be able to put her back inside. If was only fair, after all he got his freedom, she should get hers back too.

"I will find a way to fix you" he whispered into the dark " I promise"

Dawn slowly crept into the sky. The fire was low but still burning. Maxwell awoke feeling stiff and cold from sleeping on the ground. The man did not remember falling asleep but he was still alive somehow despite that. But he desperately needed food, after decades of being kept alive by shadow magic it took his body some time to remember what hunger felt like. Heat would soon become too much for him to handle, he had little time to get food. But finding food was not an easy task, the berry bushes were all withered from the heat ,farming was pointless too, then he remembered seeing some rabbit holes yesterday. The man set some traps and waited under a tree, away from the scorching sun. He had nothing to use as bait but still hoped that a rabbit would fall for the trap, they were stupid after all.

After a while he went to check to traps. Indeed, on was triggered. The man summoned a shadow of himself, just in case it was not a rabbit under the straw basket. The shadow lifted the basket and pulled out a scared little bunny rabbit, holding it by the ears. He told the shadow to kill it and prepared it for cooking then turned away from the sight; the rabbit gave a pained cry as it died. Maxwell never had to kill to survive, here the shadows kept him alive with magic, back in the real world he needed money to get food, but now it was kill or be killed, the law of the wild. Still he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

By the time the sun had begun to set there were three rabbits roasting on the fire. They were skinny, barely had any meat since it was dry season and there wasn't much food around but they were better than nothing. He needed to keep himself alive, at least until he found a way to save Charlie.

While trapped he often dreamed about going back to the real world. But it didn't seem like such a good idea now. How much time had passed? How long was he gone? All he could do for a living was his magic act, he could try to revive it but it just didn't feel right without Charlie.

He started out as a failure, a complete joke. Then he found the book in an old antique store, or maybe it was the book that found him. The Codex Umbra, it contained real magic from another world . It was his ticket to fame and glory. It gave him power he always wanted. He changed his face and changed his name to Maxwell, people no longer booed him of the stage, but looked in awe at his performances. The applause, the praise, the feeling of absolute power as he commanded the shadows, it was all he cared about, at least until he met Charlie.

The show got bigger, he made more money than he could spend and so he decided to get an assistant. After all every good magician needs one. At first it was all professional between them but as time passed they would eventually talk about things other than work. Charlie was always cheerful and energetic and sociable, she got along with everyone, and before he knew it they were friends. But it didn't stop there, somehow he had fallen in love whit her. But he never dared to tell her that the magic he used was real, afraid she would get scared and leave him. He was torn between desire for power and his love for Charlie, he didn't want to lose her. In the end his feelings won the tug of war inside his heart and he decided to propose to her after their final act before the long break. But he never got the chance, the final act was more final then they intended and it became the disaster that changed their lives forever.

He started saving up money for a house they could live in together. Making more money seemed like a good idea at the time. Putting more and more power in his acts, attracting larger crowds than ever before but got blinded by it all, didn't see the danger in using such powerful spells until it was too late and he was no longer in control, before he realized it, it had become too late.

The full moon rose in the dark sky. Typically on a night like this no fire was needed , the moonlight kept Charlie away . He was slightly relieved, her presence made him very uneasy even thou he still loved her. While he was king she couldn't hurt him but now there was a new king and he wasn't sure where the monsters loyalties were.

Suddenly he noticed movement nearby. Turning his head he saw a creature approaching. It was hairy and big and growled- a warepig. Pigmen were one of the few things he did not make in the world after becoming king. The pig monster chased him and all he could think of was getting as far away as possible. After decades spent sitting in the nightmare chair, he was quickly out of breath but he couldn't afford to stop. His legs felt like they were going to fall off, and he tripped over something. As he lay on the ground he listened, it was silent- no footsteps , no snarling. The man got up and looked around. He saw grave markers in the pale moonlight. The thing that he tripped over was a shovel. Right next to where he fell was an open grave, the man thanked whatever gods there were in this world that he didn't fall into it head first.

The moment of peace was short lived as the magician noticed white things floating in the air. The ghosts eyed him suspiciously and standing next to a shovel and an open grave did not make it any better.

"This is bad" he thought to himself before breaking into a run again with a bunch of angry ghost on his tail.

Thankfully the ghosts could not go too far from their graves. Maxwell was too exhausted to look for a way back to camp. He leaned against a birch tree trying to catch his breath but his legs gave out and he slid to the ground. It would be a long while before he could walk again. The sky was turning pink, it was the last thing his tired mind registered before he fell into a deep sleep.

The man woke up from the heat, the air was burning, it was hard to breathe. His suit stuck to his skin. Judging from the position of the sun and the shadows it was noon. Maxwell moved from the spot that was directly under the burning sun and headed towards the forest, the tall pine trees provided more shade than a lone birch. He didn't remember there being any pines near his camp, let alone a whole forest. He didn't even remember which direction he ran towards and at night he didn't a good looks at his surroundings. He was lost.

* * *

I lost my notes ( chances are my mom thought the old notebook was trash and threw it out) , and i don't remember where i was going with this so i can't continue the i ever find my motes or by some chance remember i will update for sure.

I play Don't Starve on my youtube channel, come by and leave a like =)


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